Planning The Great Extended Family Vacation (GAK)

One of my most favorite things about marrying into Phillip's family is my position as The Youngest. In my family I'm the oldest of five kids and that plus a neurotic and control freaky personality can put me in charge of a lot of things. Even when there is nothing to be in charge of. Or no one WANTS me to be in charge. I CAN'T HELP IT. God help the next sibling who gets married. But in Phillip's family, I'm the youngest. He has one brother and that brother and his wife are eight years older than we are. They have BIG kids and it's awesome. I am the little sister in this family and no one expects me to organize a single thing, nor do I find myself diving in to organize things that do not need to be organized. In a very weird way, the couch at Phillip's parents' house is the most relaxing place in the world for me. It is The Spot Of No Responsibility. AAHHH.

So now I am wondering how I got so involved in the planning of th Great Extended Cheung Family Vacation. Uhhhh, isn't that SIL's job? 

IT IS SO SIL'S JOB. But she called me up tonight all, "So we can do this! Or this! Or this! OR THIS! But maybe this? What do you think about this? Do you think we could convince the parents to do THIS?" And now I'm, like, looking up flights and hotels and figuring out dates and dude, I call UNFAIR.

SIL didn't seem to believe me when I said, "SIL, we honestly do not care where we enjoy our all-expenses-paid-by-FIL vacation." But it was clear she wanted to Form An Alliance. If we are united, everyone else will go along, right? 

Not that people are disagreeing or being difficult - ours is more a problem of choosing the best out of dozens of great ideas. Here are the parameters:

1. Must be fun for preschoolers, elementary schoolers, their tired parents, and grandparents with limited appreciation for rambunctiousness.

2. Must not veer into the Frillions of Dollars range. 

3. Must be within driving distance of an Above Average Chinese Restaurant. 

(You think I'm kidding about that last one. I am not.) 

BLARGH. Do you have any suggestions for us, Internet? SIL is looking into a cruise and Legoland and (be still my beating heart!) Hawaii. I am supposed to look at hotels in Arizona. What kind of place or vacation caters to all age groups and minimizes the logistics? (Oh, if only the Disney cruise out of Seattle weren't WELL into the frillions of dollars range!)

Do your extended families vacation together? We've done it a few times and for the most part things have worked out really well. FIL wants to go a bit bigger this year, so maybe we're just putting some extra pressure on ourselves. Maximizing the fun and all that. (Also the Chinese food. I AM SO NOT KIDDING ABOUT THAT.)